The October 5, 1998, Wall Street Journal reported that women
workers at a National Semiconductor factory in Scotland are
suffering from breast, uterine and cervical cancer that they
believe is related to their work with chemicals. Other media
reports by the BBC and NBC Dateline have connected
the health of workers in electronics manufacturing plants to
their chemical exposure.

"As the high-tech industry expanded out of Silicon Valley,
it not only exported its technology to countries all over the
world, but also its toxic chemicals and the resulting health
hazards," said Ted
Smith, director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) in
San Jose, CA. "From Glasgow to San Jose to Malaysia
and beyond, this discovery has broad and dangerous implications
for the computer industry globally and in the United States. We
believe the real tragedy of the cancer clusters is that they are
just the tip of the iceberg."

This discovery has profound implications for the semiconductor
industry in the United States, where there have also been reports
of high-tech cancer clusters said SVTC.

Communities leaders from 20 countries have expressed outrage and
have signed a letter organized by the International Campaign for
Responsible Technology (I-CRT) blasting National Semiconductor
CEO Brian Halla for not placing worker health and safety as a
higher priority.

"The facade that the electronics industry is a 'clean
industry' is being stripped away," said Grace Morrison of
PHASE II, a support group for injured semiconductor workers in
Scotland. Morrison was diagnosed with cancer shortly after she
stopped working at National Semiconductor in Scotland.

"It appears that National Semiconductor wihheld information
from these workers about the dangers of chip-making
chemicals," said JoLani Hironaka, executive director of the
Santa Clara Center for
Ococupational Safety and Health (SCCOSH)"Workers need this
information to protect themselves and make informed choices about
health. Clearly the high-tech industry needs to be
monitored and regulated as much as any other manufacturing
sector, perhaps even more so because chip-making is so chemical
intensive. Unfortunately, this is no consolation to the
workers in Scotland."